FLEXE BLOG

In this episode of Logistics 2.0, we cover our 3 predictions for the logistics & supply chain management industry in 2016 and how they will impact your day to day life.

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Welcome to Logistics 2.0. I’m Karl Siebrecht. 2015 was a very important year in logistics. Omnichannel strategies continued to evolve and become more sophisticated. The presence of Amazon as a bar raiser and disruptor loomed large in the industry, and the proliferation of technologies and companies in the world of collaborative logistics really started to take root. We spent much of 2015 talking with our customers, supply chain experts, 3PL executives, warehouse managers, and we learned a ton. One of the things that’s become clear to us, is a set of trends that we believe will really be driving change, significant change, in the industry in 2016, largely based on things we saw in 2015. So with that I’d like to introduce, what will be a recurring segment here on Logistics 2.0, something we call 3 THINGS.

This week’s 3 THINGS are our top predictions for 2016.

First, 2016 will be the year where we have a technology revolution in logistics. It’s not that there are no technologies at play and at work in logistics today. Rather, we believe that increasingly in 2016, cloud-based, sophisticated, algorithmically-driven technologies that started to take root in the last couple years, will really start to have true impact in the world of logistics this year, and will start to frankly separate the innovators from the laggards.

Second, 2016 is the year that supply chain executives will begin to rethink their approach to distribution networks, giving rise to the dynamic warehouse network. The old notions that a distribution network has to be a rigid, fixed, structural asset will be challenged, and frankly start to crumble, with the realization that going forward these warehouse networks/distribution networks, can be more dynamic, more responsive, to the actual needs of businesses today.

Third, 2016 is the year where we will see organizations begin to look at their warehouse as not simply a cost center, but increasingly as a new source of revenue.

So, why should you care about these three things? What makes these predictions relevant to your day-to-day work? First, they will directly impact the bottom lines of your organizations. These are opportunities to rethink cost structures and take advantage of new revenue opportunities. Second, they will impact the speed of your business and the responsiveness of your business to changing customer needs and competitive dynamics. And third, they will directly impact your career. In times of great change, particularly technological change, there are opportunities for new ways to think, new ideas, and the question you might want to ask yourself is, do you want to play defense, do you want to sit back and wait for this change to happen and then understand how you can best respond and react and catch up? Or is this an opportunity for you to play offense, to be part of the new thinking, to generate new ideas for your organization and be part of the change that drives a new level of competitiveness and success in your company?

If you enjoy this content, and want to hear more about our predictions for 2016, subscribe to this channel, click on the link below, or sign up for our email. That’s it for this week. I’m Karl Siebrecht with FLEXE, thanks for watching Logistics 2.0.